House expected to force DOJ to release Epstein files

The House of Representatives is expected to approve a motion on Tuesday that would force the Department of Justice to release its documents about Jeffrey Epstein, the now deceased financier who operated a child sex ring for wealthy clients.

President Donald Trump, who previously opposed release of the documents, reversed his position after enough Republican representatives were prepared to vote to force the documents' disclosure.

"We have nothing to hide, and it's time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.

Trump said the Department of Justice had "already turned over tens of thousands of pages" of Epstein documents and was looking at "various Democrat operatives" who had been mentioned in the files, including former president Bill Clinton.

He accused Democrats in the House of releasing more than 20,000 pages of Epstein's emails — including one that said about Trump: "Of course he knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop" — because they had lost the government shutdown.

Some Republican representatives have said the Democrats were selectively releasing documents to make Trump look bad.

Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges. His death was officially deemed a suicide, though conspiracy theories about him being murdered to silence him have not abated.

His former girlfriend, socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted of child sex trafficking and is currently serving a 20-year sentence.

Epstein and Maxwell travelled in wealthy and well-connected circles, and their association with high-powered men have led to numerous allegations of sexual impropriety — including Prince Andrew, Bill Gates and Trump.

One of Epstein's emails called Trump the "dog that hasn't barked", and told Maxwell that one of the girls had "spent hours at my house" with Trump.

Trump and Epstein knew each other and have been photographed together, but Trump said they had a falling out before Epstein was arrested, and the president has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

"Trump said he asked me to resign (from Mar-a-Lago), never a member ever," Epstein wrote in an email to a journalist.

None of the emails released were send or received by Trump.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in statement: "President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees."

The Epstein Files Transparency Act would require the Department of Justice to release, within 30 days, all unclassified documents related to the Epstein investigation, except for any personal information regarding victims or ongoing investigations.

"It's time to bring the secrets out of the shadows," one of Epstein's victims said in a video call to Congress. "It's time to shine a light into the darkness."

Other victims said that they were teenagers, some as young as 14, when they met Epstein.

"There are about a thousand of us," one victim said.

Democratic Representative Ro Khanna said on Sunday that he would hold a news conference at the Capitol with several victims on Tuesday.

"This was disgusting. Epstein had set up a rape island where rich and powerful men were abusing young girls with impunity. And there are thousands of victims, and rich and powerful men still have buildings named after them, scholarships named after them," Khanna told NBC News. "This is not partisan. They all need to be held accountable. The Epstein class needs to go."